Why buy a refractor?

For high-quality lunar, planetary, globular cluster, and binary star observing – as well as for surprisingly good views of the brighter Messier, NGC, and IC catalog galaxies and nebulas – many amateur astronomers prefer the crisp, high-contrast, diffraction-free images of a good refractor.

Under average seeing conditions, a useful rule of thumb in astronomy is that a good quality 3" to 4" refractor can often outperform an average quality 6" to 8" reflector or catadioptric telescope for seeing details on the Moon and planets, splitting binary stars, and resolving globular clusters.

Refractors also have the highest light transmission – the percentage of the light gathered by the scope that actually reaches your eye. Refractors typically transmit 90% or more of the light they collect, compared with the 77% to 80% transmission of reflectors and 64% to 75% of catadioptrics. (The reflector and catadioptric percentages only concern the reflectivity of standard aluminum mirror coatings. They do not take into account the light blocked by a reflector or catadioptric's diagonal or secondary mirror, which can reach a hefty 15% to 20% additional light loss in some scopes.)

Unlike reflectors and catadioptrics, which can lose 1% to 1.5% of their reflectivity per mirror surface per year as their aluminum coatings gradually oxidize, the light transmission of a low-maintenance refractor rarely deteriorates significantly with age. Century-old refractors are still used, and highly prized, by discerning amateurs, and the world's largest refractor – the Yerkes Observatory’s massive 40" – has been in professional use since 1897.

The result of a refractor's lower diffraction and higher light transmission? Given favorable seeing conditions, a modestly-sized refractor can often show you subtle lunar and planetary features with a wider and more easily observed contrast range, and with more sharply etched detail, than is possible with the light-scattering optics of larger reflectors and catadioptrics.

This is especially true on nights of less-than-perfect seeing, when the details visible in a larger scope are often blurred by turbulence in our atmosphere. A smaller refractor looks through less of our unstable atmosphere and its images are consequently less affected by this turbulence. A good 80mm refractor, for example, can reveal more lunar detail than you can sketch in a lifetime of observing.

Diffraction spikes on a reflector's star images, caused by its diagonal mirror’s spider vanes, are absent in an unobstructed refractor. With no diffraction spikes to hide faint binary star components or smear globular clusters, refractors can often resolve close-spaced stars more precisely than the typical reflector.

Since the Moon and planets are all brightly lit by the Sun, a large light-gathering capacity is not as important as high magnification within the solar system. The relatively small aperture of a refractor therefore often has an advantage over a larger reflector-type scope for this kind of observing, as there is less glare from a larger scope's brightly lit planetary surfaces to wash out faint detail.

For purely visual lunar, planetary, binary and star cluster observing, an altazimuth refractor with manual slow motion controls may be perfectly adequate. If a family shares the telescope, however, an equatorial mount with a motor drive will keep objects centered in the field of view so all can share the same view. Close-up lunar and planetary photography generally requires such a mount and motor drive. Thanks to the increasing availability of economically-priced high-sensitivity DSLR and CCD cameras for astrophotography, moderate-aperture short focal length refractors are becoming increasingly popular for wide-field deep space nebula and galaxy photography.

The drawbacks of a refractor? Except for very expensive apochromatic designs, all refractors suffer from chromatic aberration (or "spurious color"). This is an optical defect that produces a faint, and normally unobjectionable, pale violet halo around bright stars, the limb of the Moon, and the planets. Chromatic aberration becomes more visible as the aperture increases and the focal ratio decreases, although modern optical systems minimize the problem in two-element achromatic refractors – and virtually eliminate it in three to four lens apochromatic systems.

While they are light in weight and economical in smaller sizes, even the go-to computerized models, refractors become bulkier and considerably more expensive than reflectors or catadioptric scopes as apertures hit 4" (102mm) and above. A premium 4" apochromatic refractor can cost and weigh four to eight times as much as a 4.5" reflector or 3.5" Maksutov-Cassegrain.

But these drawbacks aside, and if sheer light grasp is not essential – for hunting very faint galaxies, for example, where a larger reflector would have the light-gathering edge – the clarity, contrast, and sheer image quality of a good refractor is well worth your consideration.

REFRACTOR REPORT CARDS FOR VISUAL OBSERVING(used in excellent seeing conditions and with no light pollution; adapted from Astronomy Magazine):

E = excellent; VG = very good; G = good; F = fair; P = poor.

Small aperture (2" to 3") "toy store/bargain" refractors:Price range: $100-$200Portability: EEase of setup: EEase of use: FPerformance on the Moon: FPerformance on comets: PPerformance on double stars: PPerformance on galaxies and nebulas: PPerformance on planets: P

Small aperture (3" to 4") achromatic refractors:Price range: $200-$800Portability: EEase of setup: GEase of use: GPerformance on the Moon: EPerformance on comets: FPerformance on double stars: VGPerformance on galaxies and nebulas: FPerformance on planets: VG

Large aperture (5" to 8") achromatic refractors:Price range: $800-$3200Portability: F to VGEase of setup: G+Ease of use: VGPerformance on the Moon: EPerformance on comets: VGPerformance on double stars: EPerformance on galaxies and nebulas: GPerformance on planets: E

Large aperture (6" to 8") apochromatic refractors:Price range: $5000-$27,000 and upPortability: FEase of setup: FEase of use: VGPerformance on the Moon: EPerformance on comets: VGPerformance on double stars: EPerformance on galaxies and nebulas: GPerformance on planets: E